you'll be in my heart, always
by thingyoulovemost
Summary: in which Emma and Henry have left for New York with Gold, and Snow and Charming are worried until they get a call from their daughter and grandson.


**A/N: This was a prompt from CSM (charmingfinchel, on tumblr), so this is dedicated to her! I really like how it turned out and I hope you guys do too. Also, it's how I think Henry ends up going with Emma and Gold. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Once Upon A Time. That all comes from the genius brains of Horowitz and Kitsis, I'm just playing with their characters.**

It had been about two hours since Emma and Henry had left for New York with Mr. Gold, and Snow was a nervous wreck. Henry wasn't even supposed to be with them; he'd managed to sneak out and hide in the backseat of the car until it had been too late for them to turn around and bring him back. Emma had made Henry call his grandparents personally to apologize, both of whom had been worried sick and searching frantically for him around the town. That boy was too clever for his own good.

They were scheduled to fly to New York an hour ago, so they should be landing at JFK within the next ten minutes or so. Not that Snow was counting. (Okay, she was.)

"Snow, darling, could you please stop pacing? You'll wear a hole in the floor with the rate you're going. Emma and Henry will be fine." said Charming. She twisted her ring around on her finger (it was now back on her ring finger, where it belonged) and took a seat on the sofa.

"I know, I know," she sighed. "I just can't help but worry. Gold's not exactly trustworthy. You heard his threat this morning. I have no doubt he'd follow through, given a reason." They'd already made sure that Belle's hospital room was guarded at all times by the dwarves and Red, for extra precaution.

"I know. But Emma's more than capable of taking care of herself, and Henry, for that matter. They'll be okay." he assured her, taking a seat next to her and rubbing her shoulder.

Snow smiled softly at him, and said, "You're right. You usually are." He leaned back into the sofa and gathered her in his arms, pulling her onto his lap. He kissed her gently, cupping her cheek with his hand as she wrapped her arms around him. Charming deepened the kiss as he moved his hands down her sides to grasp her waist, when Snow suddenly pulled back and said anxiously, "Do you think they've landed yet?"

Charming sighed, "Snow, Emma promised about a hundred times she'd call the moment she could turn her phone back on. Our daughter is a woman of her word, I know that much. Stop worrying."

"Easier said than done, Charming." Just as she'd finished speaking, her phone began to buzz. She practically leapt off the sofa and snatched it from where it lay on the coffee table, and seeing it was Emma, immediately pressed 'answer'. "Emma? Are you and Henry okay? How was your flight?" she demanded before Emma could even get a word in.

"Whoa, calm down. Everything's fine," her daughter assured her. "We just landed. The flight was fine. I gotta say, it was pretty entertaining watching Gold try to figure out how the metal detectors worked." "_Watch it, Miss Swan." _Snow heard in the background.

"Oh, okay, good." Snow said. Charming had gotten up as well and come to stand beside her, so Snow put the call on speaker. "Emma, I put you on speaker. Your father's here, too."

"Oh, um, hi," Emma said.

"Hi, Emma. So everything's okay over there?" Charming asked. Before Emma could answer, there was a shuffling sound and then a "Hi, Gramps! Hi, Gramma!"

Both Snow and Charming chuckled. "Why hello there, Henry," Charming said.

"What'd you think of the flight, Henry?" Snow asked.

"It was good," Henry said. "Seeing the clouds was really cool. And they had awesome snacks."

They laughed and looked at each other, grinning widely; filled with love for their grandson.

"They did, huh?" Snow replied.

"Yeah!" he said. They could her muffled speaking in the background, and then "Uh, Mom wants to talk to you guys again. Can I call you again tonight before I go to bed?" he asked.

"Of course you can, Henry." Charming spoke up. "Your grandmother and I can't wait to hear about all your adventures."

"But be careful!" Snow interjected.

"I will!" Henry replied. "Here's Mom!" There was more shuffling in the background, and then Emma's voice again.

"Sorry about that. Kid snatched the phone right out of my hand." she said. They chuckled.

"That sounds like Henry." Charming said with a laugh.

"Yeah," Emma replied, and Snow could practically hear her smiling through the phone. "Listen, we have to go through baggage claim and then check in at a hotel but I'll call you later, okay?"

Before Snow could object, Charming answered, "Of course. Be safe, Emma."

Emma replied softly, "I will. We'll be okay."

"We know you will, sweetheart." Snow said.

Emma didn't object to the term of endearment, which filled Snow with a warmth and lightness at the progress of their relationship. In fact, Snow thought she heard Emma sniffle, and looked at Charming with concern.

"Emma?" he said. When she didn't respond right away, he said, "Emma, everything's going to be alright. We'll see you soon, before you know it."

"Yeah, I know," Emma said. "I just…" she hesitated.

"What is it, Emma?" Snow asked gently.

"It's just we've barely gotten any time together and I just miss you guys, I guess." she spoke in a rush, so fast Snow and Charming almost missed what she said. They looked at each other with surprise, shocked that Emma was being so open with them. They were speechless, and as they floundered trying to respond, Emma took their silence as a cue that she'd said the wrong thing. "Never mind, um, I'll just-"

"No, no, wait, Emma," Snow cut her off before she could continue, "We miss you too, sweetheart."

"Of course we miss you, Emma." Charming interjected. "And it's not fair that we have to be away from each other so soon, but that's reality, and you'll find Gold's son right away, I know you will. That's what our family does best, right?"

They heard her chuckle softly. "Yeah, I guess it is."

They both smiled. "Good," Charming continued. "You'll find his son and then you and Henry will be back in Storybrooke, and we'll be together."

"Right," Emma said. "Okay, now I really do have to go, Gold's getting impatient. Big surprise there."

"Alright, we'll talk to you later, sweetheart." said Snow. "Call us if you need anything, okay?"

"I will, I promise." Emma replied.

"Good. Bye, sweetheart. Be safe!" Snow said.

"Bye, Emma!" Charming interjected.

"Bye!" they heard her say, then the phone beeped, signaling the end of the call.

They met each other's gaze. Snow's eyes brimmed with tears, and Charming looked at her with concern and took her hands in his.

"Snow? What's the matter?" he asked, rubbing his thumbs in circles on her palms.

"I just love our daughter, so very, very much." she said with a watery smile as a tear slipped down her cheek. Charming wiped it away with the pad of his thumb and smiled.

"Me, too, darling." he replied.

"And I love you so very, very much, too," she said, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him flush to her body.

"Oh yeah?" he said, grinning.

She smiled, biting her lip. "Mmhmm."

He kissed her deeply, running his fingers through her hair. She sighed as he moved to kiss her neck, pressing sweet kisses from her earlobe to collarbone. She brought his mouth to hers and kissed him again, fingers clutching his leather jacket that made him look so sexy.

"You know," he murmured between kisses, "Emma and Henry aren't here, and there's no chance of them walking in on us this time."

She laughed and blushed, pink coloring her cheeks. "And they won't, ever again. Once was more than enough to scar the poor girl for life."

They laughed together, before Charming swept Snow up in his arms, bridal style. She squealed, "Charming!"

He chuckled and carried her off to the bedroom, more than eager to continue making up for lost time.


End file.
